Isotopic composition of nitrate and particulate organic matter in a pristine dam-reservoir of western India: Implications for biogeochemical processes

Abstract. Isotopic composition of nitrate (δ15N and δ18O) and particulate organic matter (POM) (δ15N and δ13C) were measured in Tillari Reservoir, located at the foothills of the Western Ghats, Maharashtra, western India. The reservoir that is stratified during spring-summer and autumn seasons but gets vertically mixed during the Southwest Monsoon (SWM) and winter is characterized by diverse redox nitrogen transformations in space and time. The δ15N and δ18O values of nitrate were low (δ15N = 2–10 ‰, δ18O = 5–8 ‰) during normoxic conditions but increased gradually (highest δ15N = 27 ‰, δ18O = 29 ‰) when anoxic conditions facilitated denitrification in the hypolimnion during spring-early summer. Once nitrate was fully utilized and sulphidic conditions set in, NH4+ became the dominant inorganic N species, with δ15N ranging from 1.3 to 2.6 ‰. Low δ15N (~−5 ‰) and δ13C (−37 ‰ to −32 ‰) of POM co-occuring with high NH4+ and CH4 in sulphidic bottom waters were probably the consequence of microbial chemosynthesis. Assimilation of nitrate in the epilimnion was the major controlling process on the N-isotopic composition of POM (δ15N = 2–6 ‰). Episodic low δ15N values of POM (−2 to 0 ‰) during early summer coinciding with the absence of nitrate might arise from N-fixation, although further work is required to confirm the hypothesis. δ13C-POM in the photic zone ranged between −29 ‰ and −27 ‰ for most parts of the year. The periods of mixing were characterized by uniform δ15N-NO3− and δ18O-NO3− at all depths. Higher POM (POC and PON) contents and C / N values with lower δ13C-POM during the SWM point to allochthonous inputs. Overall, this study, the first of its kind in the Indian subcontinent, demonstrates the potential of stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes to gain insight into biogeochemistry of Indian reservoirs where the monsoons play an important role in controlling vertical mixing and dynamics of carbon and nutrients.